


a gentle fall

by Anonymous



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Confessions, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Sakusa's aversion to crows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25846852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Kiyoomi walks out of the locker room and takes a deep breath, after all this time, he is going to confess to Wakatoshi-kun.  From what he knows of him, Wakatoshi-kun would reject and let him down gently.  They would still be friends, Kiyoomi is sure.
Relationships: Sakusa Kiyoomi/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Kudos: 40
Collections: Anonymous, UshiSakuWeek 2020





	a gentle fall

**Author's Note:**

> happy ushisaku week!
> 
> i whipped this up last minute and this is unbeta'd so excuse any mistakes and enjoy.

  
After the game,Kiyoomi was invited to dinner by Wakatoshi-kun.

This is not the first time they hang out together as friends. They have been hanging out a lot since Wakatoshi-kun first moved here to the city. It was true they did not meet recently since both of them were busy with volleyball.Kiyoomi helped him get settled into Tokyo in an apartment that was near to the arena his team was based on.

He thinks about the last time he got to meet Wakatoshi-kun in the court before he was just a college student and Wakatoshi-kun was one of the brightest lights in the Japan professional volleyball league. His reputation was so great that he was becoming “Japan’s cannon.” 

His power and strength was formidable even in high school, Kiyoomi was sure that it was nothing compared to now.

He could remember what it was like seeing his childhood rival on the tv screen during the Olympics. Kiyoomi was alone in his Tokyo apartment, spellbound and fascinated… again.

Kiyoomi wanted to go to college and see what life was like beyond volleyball but that one Olympics game where he saw Wakatoshi bulldoze his way through the opposition made him recall the very same strength he battled throughout his childhood.

He wants to capture that type of feeling again.

Research was fun and all but excitement and adrenaline was few and far in between deadlines.

The announcer cheers and confetti flies all over the arena and Kiyoomi spies Wakatoshi-kun surrounded by his teammates and staff. Red and white fill up the screen and he yearns. There was nothing more satisfying than to test yourself against someone strong.

He felt shy and he was never timid even though he always admired Wakatoshi-kun both on and off the court. He closes his eyes and pictures that friendly game between the Adlers and his college team. Of course, they were blown off the water from the professional team that was repeat champions and would soon clinch a third but Kiyoomi thought that he came out fine from his battle against Wakatoshi-kun even though he knew he’s probably going to feel some of the hits on his arms and the tell-tale burn of overexertion on his limbs the next day but it was worth it to see the same glimmer of challenge on Wakatoshi’s eyes.

He and his college team lost that time but for his first professional volleyball game against Wakatoshi, Kiyoomi prevailed.

Kiyoomi narrowed his eyes at the irritating memory not knowing what Komori actually meant but finding himself agitated for some reason. He looks over to the other side of the court where Ushijima is standing.

Even after the friendly match between the Adlers and his college team, it would seem that Wakatoshi has filled out even more and his uniform showing off his muscles and unconsciously he rubs his biceps and mentally compares it to the size of Wakatoshi’s muscles.

Wakatoshi-kun seemed to be approaching him.

“Kiyoomi-kun, would you like to have a bite with me after the game?”

“Okay, Wakatoshi-kun. Let’s meet up beside the entrance after showering and changing, is that alright?”

  
The smell of salonpas and sweat fill the air of the shower area and Kiyoomi wants.

Curse Komori and his big mouth.

Gentle delicate hands tucking a dainty handkerchief and those same hands delivering devastating spikes across a court and the first time, matching smiles across a court like saying… Ah you are strong too.

Kiyoomi thinks that he could play volleyball all his life if he feels the way he feels playing against Wakatoshi-kun every time he stands on the court.

Komori was smug and irritating but when Kiyoomi told him about what playing against Ushijima meant to him, all he got was some weird nonsense and perverted innuendo about how Kiyoomi should prepare himself for Ushijima’s serves 

He bristled at the comment then, feeling ineffectual and wanting to put him on video so he can glower all he wants at his cheeky cousin. He doesn’t want to tell him that he has admitted to himself that he may have finally admitted to himself that he has a slight attraction towards Wakatoshi-kun.

Komori after all has been rubbing it in ever since first year of high school. Kiyoomi knows not to give Komori any material for endless taunting later.

It was after a practice in first year that Komori told him that he should confess to Ushijima and be done with it.

Kiyoomi pauses from his stretches and glares at his cousin who has the gall to just smile at him. It doesn’t help that he is on the floor and Komori is looming over him with a cheshire grin and a smugness that Kiyoomi wishes he could wipe so he slides his leg at him and with quick reflexes that must be a family trait that they both share, Komori just jumps away and laughs at the attempt.

Komori though does not stop the attack on Kiyoomi’s sensibilities. 

“I think you should just go for it and bag the man of your dreams!”Komori casually says as they start the trek to Kiyoomi’s house where they play video games and Komori usually makes fun of Kiyoomi. This time though, it seems like Komori is on to the idea that Kiyoomi is infatuated with Ushijima Wakatoshi, famed volleyball ace of Shiratorizawa and not just deeply respects Ushijima’s talents on the court.

Komori must have caught something to his face because he just sighs and sees that they have just arrived and sprints towards his house with single minded determination which was once again a shared family trait. 

Kiyoomi hurries after his cousin and hopes he doesn’t mess up his perfect system of orderliness in his room. He greets the two lovebirds that his family keeps and rushes to the second floor where his cousin must be plotting something to irritate him further. 

His bedroom door is open and Komori is there rifling through Kiyoomi’s volleyball notes and he must have found what he was looking for because he let out an “Aha.”

Kiyoomi closes the door because whatever conversation they are gonna have, he doesn’t want his parents and older brothers to know. 

Komori waves a sheaf of papers and nearly whacks Kiyoomi with them. Kiyoomi has to shove them away from his face and grabs them for inspection on what kind of evidence Komori thought to have.

“Komori, this is just my volleyball notes?” The beleaguered tone he adopts is more astringent than usual, he wanted to read up on that book report that was due this week. Something inane about romance and pining. I mean, who falls in love at first sight? And if you love someone, you should just confess and do something about it. 

He glared at the obnoxious laughing Komori who just said that of course you should prepare for Wakatoshi, you need to be able to receive his serves well. He looks at his notes and indeed most of the pages contain information about Wakatoshi-kun but that was because he was his rival and he was going to have to surpass him to make it to the top.

After he says all that to Komori though, Komori pointed out that Wakatoshi-kun was playing in another prefecture and there was a chance that they would not get to even face each other.

His cheeks burned and he knew he had no quick rejoinder for his cousin but he is 100 percent sure that the only thing he feels for Wakatoshi-kun was a deep honorable respect for a rival.

He also appreciated that Wakatoshi-kun always smelled pleasant and minty after a match no matter what.

After that, they continued on to video games and Kiyoomi read up on some cliche romance where the main character was insufferable and oblivious and he had to write on how and why the character was insufferable and oblivious for class.

  
His cousin got him to the local volleyball gym.

It was a welcome summer pastime.

And he was good at spiking, people were amazed but that is just due course because Kiyoomi always practiced the most and often than not he was the last one in the gym even later than the high schoolers who visited.

It was not a matter of competition because by and by he was the most skilled in his age group.

Until…

Wakatoshi Ushijima

He had a big presence from both his personality and his body.His powerful spikes were awe inspiring and for once, Kiyoomi found a worthy opponent. Kiyoomi’s hands were shaking when he tried to bump that monster serve.

Volleyball became just more than a summer pastime.

The first professional game of Kiyoomi’s life and the most important one yet, it is fitting to see a familiar figure staring at him across the court. 

He was excited and even his new teammates could tell there was something different than first pro game jitters going around. 

“Japan has gotten so big.” Hinata exclaims.

Kiyoomi raises an eyebrow because Brazil, the country Hinata just lived in for years is significantly bigger than their home country.

Hinata jumped up and down excitedly, “No, Sakusa-san, I mean Ushijima!”

He stared blankly for a moment and quickly dismissed this nonsense, of course Wakatoshi-kun was always impressive for his size and the last time they met, even though Kiyoomi was a hair taller, Wakatoshi was a mountain of a man. 

Kiyoomi revised his strength training in anticipation.

His damn cousin was making fun of him once he told his plan. Obnoxious laughter filtered through his phone speaker as he trimmed the edges of his houseplant leaves. He needed to buy a bigger pot, Kiyoomi thinks the roots are close to bursting the container and it would be a bigger pain to plant it if he did not transplant it any later.

“Kiyoooooomi, don’t you think that your pining has gone long enough?”

Again with his cousin’s nagging.

Can’t a man admire another man’s incredible physique without making it out that one wants to jump him? Considering the same man also has a calm and dependable demeanour outside the court. Of course, Kiyoomi would gravitate to him rather than the rest of his unwashed peers. Wakatoshi-kun always smelled of clean soap and a faint herbal aroma after their matches unlike most of the heathens.

Komori is truly a degenerate to suggest anything Kiyoomi feels toward Wakatoshi-kun to be more than just respect and wanting to be a closer friend.

Kiyoomi thinks he should tell Auntie that Komori was the one who broke the porcelain statue when they were kids and he was begged by Komori to say it was him in exchange for a whole year of Komori doing his clean up duty at school.

He liked being clean but had no interest in other people’s messes. With the extra time after school, he could spend more time at volleyball practice, perfecting his receives since Wakatoshi-kun in his final year of high school was sure to have improved on the power of his serves and blocks.

That final tournament where Kiyoomi wanted to face off Wakatoshi-kun was thwarted by a murder of crows.

The first professional game of Kiyoomi’s life and the most important one yet, it is fitting to see a familiar figure staring at him across the court. 

He was excited and even his new teammates could tell there was something different than first pro game jitters going around. 

“Japan has gotten so big.” Hinata exclaims.

Kiyoomi raises an eyebrow because Brazil, the country Hinata just lived in for years is significantly bigger than their home country.

Hinata jumped up and down excitedly, “No, I mean Ushijima!”

He stared blankly for a moment and quickly dismissed this nonsense, of course Wakatoshi-kun was always impressive for his size and the last time they met, even though Kiyoomi was a hair taller, Wakatoshi was a mountain of a man. 

Kiyoomi revised his strength training in anticipation for the time before he entered the professional volleyball world.

His damn cousin was making fun of him once he told his plan to augment his training regimen. Obnoxious laughter filtered through his phone speaker as he trimmed the edges of his houseplant leaves. He needed to buy a bigger pot, Kiyoomi thinks the roots are close to bursting the container and it would be a bigger pain to plant it if he did not transplant it any later.

“Sakuuuuuuuuusa, don’t you think that your pining has gone long enough?”

Again with his cousin’s nagging.

Can’t a man admire another man’s incredible physique without making it out that one wants to jump him? Considering the same man also has a calm and dependable demeanour outside the court. Of course, Kiyoomi would gravitate to him rather than the rest of his unwashed peers. Wakatoshi-kun always smelled of clean soap and a faint herbal aroma after their matches unlike most of the heathens.

Komori is truly a degenerate to suggest anything Kiyoomi feels toward Wakatoshi-kun to be more than just respect and wanting to be a closer friend.

Kiyoomi thinks he should tell Auntie that Komori was the one who broke the porcelain statue when they were kids and he was begged by Komori to say it was him in exchange for a whole year of Komori doing his clean up duty at school.

He liked being clean but had no interest in other people’s messes. With the extra time after school, he could spend more time at volleyball practice, perfecting his receives since Wakatoshi-kun in his final year of high school was sure to have improved on the power of his serves and blocks.

That final tournament where Kiyoomi wanted to face off Wakatoshi-kun was thwarted by a murder of crows.

  
Kiyoomi is glad that after all that time, he would be facing Wakatoshi-kun again more frequently in the court. After he went to college, he thought that meeting up with Wakatoshi-kun and facing him in the court would be a long shot.

Now they are here, together again on opposite sides of the court.

Kiyoomi walks out of the locker room and takes a deep breath, after all this time, he is going to confess to Wakatoshi-kun. From what he knows of him, Wakatoshi-kun would reject and let him down gently. They would still be friends, Kiyoomi is sure.

They take a subway ride to the restaurant and it is nearly empty save for a few couples in the front. Kiyoomi is glad that he wore something a little bit dressed up after the game, a black sweater and some pants that do not stretch. They are seated outside in the veranda and the moon is full and the sky is clear so at least there is no danger of rain.

Wakatoshi-kun orders the steak and so does Kiyoomi. The meat is really tender and the sauce is rich to accentuate the beef. Every professional athlete needs a lot of protein and the most accessible source is meat. Wakatoshi-kun told Kiyoomi countless times when Kiyoomi told him during a visit to Kiyoomi’s own apartment in the early days when Wakatoshi-kun first moved to the city.

  
“How is your new team?”

  
“They are too loud and run around like headless chickens.”

“The jackals are going to be more of a challenge now that both you and Hinata are there.”

Wakatoshi-kun smiled at Kiyoomi.

“Hah, I am just glad that I am now in the league getting to play among the best in Japan.( to play against you once more)” Sakusa smiles at his friend.

With the pale light of the moon enveloping Wakatoshi-kun’s face, Sakusa cannot help but reach out and touch his hand on the table. He could see a light blush on Wakatoshi-kun’s face, lovely and wonderful to behold. 

Now or never, Kiyoomi thinks to himself.

When all of a sudden, a crow swoops in and takes out a piece of Wakatoshi-kun’s steak like a murder animal it is. 

The crow did not even deign to acknowledge them and hopped side by side on their table and then it flew to god knows where, probably Brazil, Kiyoomi thinks uncharitably.

Crows are unlucky, his grandmother always warned him, she always favored birds with more fortunate reputations or bright colorful plumage like the lovebirds his family kept. 

It was considered good luck for a couple to have lovebirds. They are a symbol of romantic love after all. Just like it says on the tin.

Kiyoomi is not superstitious, he is not but he does respect patterns and ever since second year of high school he is not really that fond of crows so his mood is soured.

He finally glances at Wakatoshi-kun still in a daze from their bird attack and he thinks a waiter is coming in to check on them.

This was an eventful dinner.

He is tired but luckily tomorrow is a day off for both him and Wakatoshi-kun. Kiyoomi is a little tipsy from indulging on the wine that was given to them for the whole bird fiasco, Wakatoshi-kun also invited him for the first time to a sleepover in his apartment. 

Kiyoomi is greatly pleased but he would have been more satisfied in finally confessing his love to Wakatoshi-kun.

He is lying on Wakatoshi-kun’s guest bed and even with the excellent pinot noir, he is not the least bit sleepy but the adrenaline of the game, the thwarted plan to confess and the ominous appearance of the animal danced around his head like a mongoose scurrying in his tunnels.

Kiyoomi decides to go to the kitchen instead and get a glass of water since he predicts that he is gonna be seriously dehydrated by the time he wakes up with a wine-induced hangover to boot. He probably needs to prepare some aspirin for himself first thing in the morning.

Padding gently outside the guest room door, he spies what could only be Wakatoshi in the kitchen. He turns on the light to get a better look and Wakatoshi startles a bit at the sudden brightness like a spooked bird himself.

Wakatoshi is bringing something from the cabinet.

Kiyoomi receives it and he feels the crinkle of a foil in one hand and sees that Wakatoshi-kun was getting him some aspirin.

He feels his heart almost bursting and Kiyoomi can’t help himself. He doesn't know when he fell or just like what Komori said that he became aware of his own feelings but he wants more than to be a rival and a friend to the thoughtful and gentle man standing before him who does everything with consideration. Kiyoomi thinks he wants to be treated to that consideration every day of his life.

“I like you,”he blurts out.

Wakatoshi smiles and envelopes him in an embrace and says “I like you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kiyoomi invites Wakatoshi to his childhood home not really to meet his parents but to look at the lovebirds to wash away the crow incident and the resulting bad luck.
> 
> The author thinks crows are really cool though and Kiyoomi is just prejudiced due to crows being the reason of the missed final match he and Wakatoshi could have had.


End file.
